Polonius

I am suspicious of Polonius and his keen manipulation, or more like control. He's the right hand man of Claudius which makes it unusual for him not to be skeptical of King Hamlet's sudden death. Therefore, I presume that Polonius is in fact involved in the death of Hamlet. His behavior makes me view him negatively. He seems to be fearful of many things, such as his family name and how Laertes behaves as he demonstrates when he says to Ophelia, "you'll tender me a fool" (1.3.118). However, at the same time he takes advantage of people and tries to be someone who wants to make everyone happy, like Claudius. These are contradicting actions, therefore I predict that Polonius is selfish. Yet, being unpleasant to Claudius will not raise his advantages. For example, he uses Ophelia to perhaps gain recognition if they marry or even inherit some money. His intentions are not very clear, but assumptions can be made. He is very demanding and controlling. He is determined to monitor his son's behavior or reputation. The information he seeks is not obtained through communication with his son though. He sends someone to in a sense spy on him and ask around about his actions. We can analyze a lot about Polonius himself through his actions. He exclaims, "And there put on him what forgeries you please- marry, none so rank as may dishonor him, take heed of that" (2.1.22). Polonius is so detailed in his instructions to Reynaldo, the spy, that it makes the reader wonder why he is so thorough. This knowledge is only obtained with experience so one can predict that this is not the first time he has spied on someone. He can probably get whatever he wants and needs through these sources. His actions prove him to be untrustworthy of his kids. They should be old enough to be able to take care of themselves without their father monitoring their moves. He is concerned with his reputation rather than the happiness of his kids. I wonder that if Ophelia was madly in love with Hamlet and Polonius knew then would he let Ophelia be with Hamlet just for the sake of her happiness. He also gives Laertes his consent to travel but it is more of a test to Laertes to see if he is capable of this freedom. I value the concept of trust and if my parent would not be able to trust me, especially after years of learning from them, then I think that Polonius is one to not be trusted as well. How I view this is that if someone made bad choices in their earlier years, then when they have kids they are more protective of them since they do not want them to end up like they did. Therefore, one can conclude that Polonius may have done bad things that he either does not want his children doing or his children finding out. I would feel unfortunate if he was my father, because he favors his son over his daughter. This was clear when he warned his daughter not to ruin the family name but just told his son to be true to himself and be wise (2.1). I understand that in those times it was usual for sexism to take place within the family, but that does not make it acceptable and it gives Polonius an even larger negative connotation.